Formal Charge Exponent

[RichardValdez1L]

So does the formal charge on a molecule such as (SO4)^-2 apply as the overall formal charge to the entire molecule even though it possibly could only be attached to one atom?

[Garrett Dahn 1I]

I think the entire molecule takes on a negative charge because one of its components has a negative charge, and since molecules consist of atoms, if one of those is charged, the molecule in turn will be the sum of those charges. So the negative charge is on that particular atom, but the entire molecule assumes that charge because that charged atom is part of the molecule, such that if the sum of the atomic formal charges equals the overall charge of the entire molecule.

Hope this is helpful!

[Heung Ching Chia 1E]

Hello, I am not too sure what your question means but I think the overall charge on a molecule like SO4^2- means when you add up all the formal charges of the individual atoms in the molecule, the final answer should equal 2-. For example (just an example!), if all the formal charges of O is 0 but S has a formal charge of -2, then the overall charge would be 2-, which is what you want because the overall charge of the molecule should be the same as all your formal charges in the molecule added together.

Hope this helps!

[105012653 1F]

Not quite sure about this either..

[Megan Phan 1K]

If one of the molecule's components has a negative charge, the entire compound takes on the charge as a whole.

[Sollie1G]

This is what I found:

In chemistry, a formal charge (FC) is the charge assigned to an atom in a molecule, assuming that electrons in all chemical bonds are shared equally between atoms, regardless of relative electronegativity.